what bullets are in them. That’s usually enough. Ow! Ow! Stop, please stop!”
Usually enough
. Lolly wondered how many other homes he and Niki had invaded, how many women he’d hurt, raped, murdered.
Deep in the forest, there was a sudden crack as sharp as a gunshot, followed by a crash and a thud. For a moment of sheer panic Lolly thought Darwin had been lying and Niki
did
have another weapon, but then she realized what had happened: limbs were beginning to give way under the weight of the ice.
“What the hell was that?” Darwin asked, a new fear in his quavering voice.
Neither Lolly nor Gabriel bothered to tell him what was happening.
“Now what?” she asked, looking up at Gabriel before returning her attention to Darwin’s boot laces. They didn’t know where Niki was; Darwin was unarmed, would shortly be secured, but it wasn’t as if they could call the sheriff and have their prisoner collected and jailed within a matter of minutes. She didn’t want to spend the night in the same house with him, not even if Gabriel hog-tied and gagged him, and she didn’t think they could manage to get him down the mountain tonight. With limbs already beginning to come down, it was too dangerous to go anywhere tonight.
Gabriel opened his mouth to answer and Darwin suddenly threw himself backward in a convulsive movement that knocked Gabriel off balance, and wrenched his arms free from Gabriel’s grasp.
With an inhuman roar he went for Lolly. Croucheddown the way she was, she didn’t have a chance to run. He knocked her flat; she was hit with a force that knocked the breath out of her, and banged her head hard on the frozen earth. She heard a ripping sound as she slid across the rough, icy ground, then he was on her and trying for her throat again.
Gabriel recovered his balance and launched himself forward, both hands grabbing Darwin by his coat collar and slinging him off Lolly. Darwin surged to his feet, came at them again. Gabriel pivoted, planted his foot, and smashed his elbow backward into Darwin’s face. There was a sickening crunch, and Darwin was suddenly boneless, his body oddly slack as he slumped to the ground. His eyes were open and staring, and twin black trickles of blood leaked from his nostrils.
Gabriel spared him only the briefest glance. “He’s dead.” His tone didn’t reveal a shred of regret. The elbow to the nose, smashing it and driving bone fragments into the brain, hadn’t been an accident.
Deep in the forest, another limb gave up its life with a sharp crack, and crashed down. Hard on the heels of it came another one, this one much closer.
Lolly was still on the ground, her eyes huge dark pools in a stark white face as she stared up at him. He leaned down and caught her arm, pulled her to her feet. “We have to go back to the house,” he said. “We can’t walk out now, not with limbs already coming down.”
Solemnly she nodded, but she asked, “What about Niki? That’s her name,” she explained in a vague tone. She gestured at the body on the ground. “His name is Darwin.
Was
Darwin.” A faint note of satisfaction leaked into her voice. Looking around, as if searching for the missing woman, she added, “She might be at the house.”
“Maybe,” Gabriel said grimly. “If she is, I’ll handle it. From what this asshole said, they’re out of ammo. If she didn’t go back to the house, if she’s out here somewhere … she can freeze to death, for all I care.”
Still Lolly just stood there, and he gentled his tone. “Lolly, we don’t have a choice.” He bent and collected the flashlight Lolly had dropped, as well as Darwin’s empty pistol. The pistol he slipped into his front pants pocket. His own flashlight was still secured in his coat pocket; he’d use the other one as long as the battery held out, because who knew how long they’d be in the house before the road was clear? If the electricity at the house hadn’t already gone out, it would soon.
“I know,”
Usually enough
. Lolly wondered how many other homes he and Niki had invaded, how many women he’d hurt, raped, murdered.
Deep in the forest, there was a sudden crack as sharp as a gunshot, followed by a crash and a thud. For a moment of sheer panic Lolly thought Darwin had been lying and Niki
did
have another weapon, but then she realized what had happened: limbs were beginning to give way under the weight of the ice.
“What the hell was that?” Darwin asked, a new fear in his quavering voice.
Neither Lolly nor Gabriel bothered to tell him what was happening.
“Now what?” she asked, looking up at Gabriel before returning her attention to Darwin’s boot laces. They didn’t know where Niki was; Darwin was unarmed, would shortly be secured, but it wasn’t as if they could call the sheriff and have their prisoner collected and jailed within a matter of minutes. She didn’t want to spend the night in the same house with him, not even if Gabriel hog-tied and gagged him, and she didn’t think they could manage to get him down the mountain tonight. With limbs already beginning to come down, it was too dangerous to go anywhere tonight.
Gabriel opened his mouth to answer and Darwin suddenly threw himself backward in a convulsive movement that knocked Gabriel off balance, and wrenched his arms free from Gabriel’s grasp.
With an inhuman roar he went for Lolly. Croucheddown the way she was, she didn’t have a chance to run. He knocked her flat; she was hit with a force that knocked the breath out of her, and banged her head hard on the frozen earth. She heard a ripping sound as she slid across the rough, icy ground, then he was on her and trying for her throat again.
Gabriel recovered his balance and launched himself forward, both hands grabbing Darwin by his coat collar and slinging him off Lolly. Darwin surged to his feet, came at them again. Gabriel pivoted, planted his foot, and smashed his elbow backward into Darwin’s face. There was a sickening crunch, and Darwin was suddenly boneless, his body oddly slack as he slumped to the ground. His eyes were open and staring, and twin black trickles of blood leaked from his nostrils.
Gabriel spared him only the briefest glance. “He’s dead.” His tone didn’t reveal a shred of regret. The elbow to the nose, smashing it and driving bone fragments into the brain, hadn’t been an accident.
Deep in the forest, another limb gave up its life with a sharp crack, and crashed down. Hard on the heels of it came another one, this one much closer.
Lolly was still on the ground, her eyes huge dark pools in a stark white face as she stared up at him. He leaned down and caught her arm, pulled her to her feet. “We have to go back to the house,” he said. “We can’t walk out now, not with limbs already coming down.”
Solemnly she nodded, but she asked, “What about Niki? That’s her name,” she explained in a vague tone. She gestured at the body on the ground. “His name is Darwin.
Was
Darwin.” A faint note of satisfaction leaked into her voice. Looking around, as if searching for the missing woman, she added, “She might be at the house.”
“Maybe,” Gabriel said grimly. “If she is, I’ll handle it. From what this asshole said, they’re out of ammo. If she didn’t go back to the house, if she’s out here somewhere … she can freeze to death, for all I care.”
Still Lolly just stood there, and he gentled his tone. “Lolly, we don’t have a choice.” He bent and collected the flashlight Lolly had dropped, as well as Darwin’s empty pistol. The pistol he slipped into his front pants pocket. His own flashlight was still secured in his coat pocket; he’d use the other one as long as the battery held out, because who knew how long they’d be in the house before the road was clear? If the electricity at the house hadn’t already gone out, it would soon.
“I know,”
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